I’ll admit it. I love cake. Sheet cake, cupcakes, layer cakes, cake that’s dyed Cookie Monster blue for my niece’s first birthday. All cake is good in my book. So when I read this article on psfk.com, I was intrigued. A cake elevator?! I am so in.
Recently, UK-based McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes teamed up with Engine, a communications firm in London, to create the first elevator covered in lickable cake dot wallpaper. Apparently, the objective is to provide Engine employees with some delicious stress relief – after all, isn’t “stressed” just “desserts” spelled backwards? – and to have fun doing it. Clearly, the objective was not to create the most hygienic elevator ever, although a spokesperson for the company does say that an elevator attendant is on duty to remove already-licked cake dots. Do with that information what you will.
Regardless of how you feel about cake, or germs, or sharing an elevator with people who like to lick walls, this type of out-of-the-box (setting aside that it’s in an elevator, which is actually a box) thinking is inspiring. I can think of at least 2 key reasons:
1. It gets – and keeps – a consumer’s attention, which is incredibly difficult these days. We’re assaulted with so much information, and so quickly, that creating a campaign or experience that is memorable and cuts through the clutter is a real challenge – and not one that all marketers or brands rise to gracefully or successfully.
2. And, it’s buzzworthy and shareworthy. What started as the brainchild of an artist and a chef for a specific art installation has now been written about in a leading online magazine, and shared thousands of times across multiple networks. Aside from sharing it on Facebook, Twitter, and this blog, I’ve told at least 4 people I’ve encountered in my daily life. And now that I’ve told you, don’t you want to go tell someone else, if for no other reason than to laugh about how profoundly strange it might be to walk into an elevator and see someone trying to lick the ceiling?
What brands have you seen do something like this – shareworthy, or inspiring, or out-of-the-box, or better yet, all 3 – lately? Or, do you have favorite brands that you would like to see rise to the occasion, and raise the bar for all the rest? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. Best answer wins a ride in the lickable cake elevator.*
* Not really. But be honest: wouldn’t it be fun to see, even if you and everyone else kept their taste buds where they belonged?
